Heavy Duty Sleeve Assemblies & Liners

MAHLE Clevite offers a wide range of sleeves for both wet and dry applications and in most cases, provides the appropriate o-ring kits included in the box. The MAHLE Clevite policy is to meet or exceed OE specs for material construction and hardness on sleeves. MAHLE Clevite also offers a wide variety of cast iron repair sleeves for general machine shop use.

Clevite® assemblies are ready for installation and have a finish-machined or rough-turned cylinder bore depending on the type of engine.

A Clevite assembly comprises the following:

Liner of finned cylinder with the appropriate seals

Pistons complete with rings, and if necessary - circlips

In cases where subdivided dimensions groups (e.g. color coding or letters) are specified by the engine manufacturer, this system is maintained by means of corresponding markings for Clevite assemblies. For more information, please see the installation tips below.

For foreign nameplate applications, we offer the same OE quality heavy duty engine parts in the MAHLE Original brand.

Light alloy cylinders (e.g. with bearing surfaces made of CROMAL®, NIKASIL®, SILUMAL®) are divided into several grades due to small fitting clearances at standard cylinder diameter. The number of groups, as well as the respective diameter ranges, is tabulated in our catalog.

The example below, showing five diameter grades, illustrates the subdivisions for the standard diameter 39mm:

Cylinder Dia.

Piston Dia.

A

38.98 mm

38.96 mm

B

38.99 mm

38.97 mm

C

39.00 mm

38.98 mm

D

39.01 mm

38.99 mm

E

39.02 mm

39.00 mm

The fitting clearance is 0.020mm in each case.

The piston and cylinder must correspond to the same diameter grade before the piston is fitted and the cylinder installed. Re-honing is possible if reconditioning CROMAL® cylinders becomes necessary due to normal wear of cylinder and piston. The parts can be honed up to the largest cylinder diameter in relation to the standard diameter.

Example (with five grades):

The following is fitted: Cylinder, grade A, 38.98 mm diameter with a Piston, grade A, 38.96 mm diameter The cylinder can be re-honed by approx. 0.03 mm, i.e. to a diameter of 39.01 mm (according to grade D). A piston from the corresponding grade (i.e. D) with a diameter of 38.99 mm must then be installed as well. The specified fitting clearance; however, must always be observed. Should the cylinder wear be greater than the difference to the largest available diameter (including machining) the cylinder must be replaced.

The bores and seats in the cylinder block must be carefully cleaned and must not be damaged. Corroded surfaces must be redefined (use liners, which are oversize on flange and outside diameter). Make sure that the tools are precisely aligned.

The bearing area of the flange must be perpendicular to the bore, have a flat surface and be sufficiently chamfered. If the bearing area of the flange is not flat, it could lead to rupture and cause major damage to the engine.

Before final installation, insert the liner without sealing rings. Check ease of movement and correct seating (projection length of liner must be in accordance with engine manufacturer's specifications).

After fitting the liner with the appropriate sealing rings, (use lubricant) check the cylinder diameter, particularly within the region of the sealing rings in order to recognize shrinkages caused by squeezed sealing rings. Incorrect sealing (in terms of diameter or material) can lead to cylinder shrinkage and thus to piston seizure.

Before the liner is installed, the bore in the cylinder block must be carefully cleaned and checked for dimensional accuracy and distortion. Bores, which are out-of-round or damaged, can be refinished (fine-bored or honed) for the installation of oversize liners.

It is of importance that the bore is circular and cylindrical, since it determines the internal geometrical shape of the pressed-in thin-walled liner.

In the case of liners with a flange, the seat at the transition to the bore in the cylinder block must be chamfered during refinishing in order to prevent the flange from being ruptured.

1. After installation of a liner (WV) whose inner diameter is only pre-bored, this cylinder bore is then fine-bored and finish-honed to its nominal size. For fine-bored liners, only finish-honing is carried out (tolerance as per DIN/ISO H5). The front surface of the liner must be flush with the sealing surface of the cylinder block. If necessary, grind over cylinder block and liner.

2. Finish-honed liners (WT, Slip-Fit) have only a sliding fit or a slight degree of overlap in the cylinder block bore. The bore in the block must be measured accurately before installation of the liner.

Oil and grease should not be used to insert the liners since they tend to cake and hinder the dissipation of heat. Special lubricants such as molybdenum disulphide should be used instead.

After insertion, the cylinder diameter is to be measured crosswise at several points (but at least at the top and bottom). Out-of-roundness and shrinkages caused by inaccurate bores must be equalized out by means of re-honing.